Sheffield Wednesday: Carvalhal pledges to continue rotating squad

Dom Howson

Head coach Carlos Carvalhal says he is prepared to carry on upsetting his players - as long as Sheffield Wednesday are winning matches.

The Portuguese left-out summer signing Darryl Lachman and strikers Sergiu Bus and Stevie May from his 18-man match-day squad last weekend.

Carvalhal is a big believer in squad rotation. Should the Owls prevail in tonight’s Capital One Cup tie against League Two side Mansfield Town, they will play seven matches this month.

Braga-born Carvalhal insists every member of his first-team squad will get an opportunity to stake a claim for a starting spot over the coming weeks.

“The players understand that the coach wants to do the best,” he told The Star. “I want to win. To win, we need the correct team for each match.

“Sometimes, if a player is not in the squad, it might mean they are adapting to how we are playing or not working hard enough. That is football.

“I want to win matches and will pick the team that I feel can win the games. It is not a problem to me.”

Lachman, Bus and May are all in contention to start at home to Mansfield, who were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Carlisle United on the opening-day.

Lucas Joao, Liam Palmer, Jose Semedo, Kieran Lee and Vincent Sasso will also be pushing for run-outs, with Carvalhal likely to shuffle his pack.

“Tuesday is an important match,” he stressed. “We will see how the players recover. Some players recover fast. Some don’t recover so fast.

“We analyse all the players. We need them all through the season.

“It is a marathon competition. It is not 100m sprint.”

One player Carvalhal who has allowed to leave is Marnick Vermijl. The right-back headed to Preston North End on a season-long loan deal last week. The 23-year-old Belgian made his Lilywhites debut in their goalless draw to much-fancied Middlesbrough on Sunday.

Carvalhal said: “Marnick [Vermijl] is a very talented player. At the moment, we have three full-backs on the right. He has a chance to play regularly. Hopefully he will do well and be more experienced after one season.”